Metallic railway-tie



(No Model.) 2 shets-sheet 1.

B. F. & M. P. SPARE. METALLIC RAILWAY TIL.

No. 483,773. Patented Oct. 4, 1892.

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(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

B. F. 8v M. P. SPARR. METALLIC RAILWAY TIB.

No. 483,773. Patented Oct. 4, 1892.

ATTORNEY.

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UNITED STATES PATENT c OFFICE.

BENJAMIN E'. sPAEE AND MILLAED E. sPAEE, on BROOKLYN, NEW YOEI.

M ETALLIC RAI LWAY-TI E.

SPECIFICATION forming par'. of Letters Patent No. 483,773, dated october 4, 1892.

Application tiled August 5, 1891. Serial No. 401,731. (No model.)

To otZZ` whom` zit may concern..-

Be it known that we, BENJAMIN F. SPAEE and MILLAED F. SPARE, citizens of the United States, and residents of the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have ,invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Railway-Ties, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates more especially to the device employed for securing the rail upon the tie.

The object of our invention is a metallic tie upon which the rail can be secured and adjusted thereon without the employment of a locking device which includes a screw among its members; and it consists in the peculiar construction, arrangement, and combinations of parts hereinafter more particularly described, and then denitely claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate our invention, similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

Figure l is a view in perspective. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of one end of the tie, and shows the guide-plate riveted to the body of the tie. Fig. 3 is a similar section and shows the guide-plate struck up from the body of the tie. Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively top views of the construct-ion shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the locking device employed to secure the rail to the tie. Fig. 7 is a bottom plan of the locking device. Fig. 8 is an elevation of the key used to secure the locking device. The dotted lines show the shape of the end of the key before the key is locked. Fig. 9 is a longitudi- :nal section of the tie and rails and illustrates the method of securing a bearing and guardrail in parallel position upon the tie. Fig. l0 is a plan view showing a rail secured upon the tie by a pair of locking devices instead of one locking device and a guide-plate. Fig. 11 is a longitudinal section on the line Y Y of Fig. 12. Fig. l2 is a bottom plan View of Figs. 10 and ll.

A represents the tie, having its ends ano sides turned over to give the tie the shape which is considered the best in the modern practice of railway construction.

In Figs. 2 and 3 there is shown secured to or formed of the body of the tie a guide-plate B, this guide-plate having such a shape as to permit the Iiange b of one side of the rail to be introduced under it.

In ordinary track construction where there is a straight track without switches, crossovers, &c., the guide-plate B may be secured in position or formed in the bodyof the tie to establish a deli nite gage. Where the track is broken by switches and cross-overs, we prefer to use the construction shown in Figs. 10 and 1l, bywhich arrangement the track is laterally adjustable upon the ties, thus enabling the rails, as regards each other, to be adjusted to compensate for wear,`&c. In the top of the tie is formed the rectangular openings cz, the long axis of which is at right angles to the axis of the tie.

C, Fig. 6, represents the locking device, which consists of a top portion or head c one end of which c2 is shaped to correspond at its under surface with the upper surface of the iiange b of the rail. The other end o3 has in its under portion a semicircular groove c4 and of a size adapted to receive the tapering bolt D. At the under side of the head is ashoulder c6, having a curved surface adapted to press against the edge of the iiange of the shoe. The groove c1 converges or tapers longitudinally, whereby the key D when driven into the said groove c4 has a wedging action. The key D may be made in one part with a split end, but is preferably composed of two independent pieces with soft ends d, placed side by side. The top portion orhead where it joins the stem c5 is shaped to form the arc of a circle, the apex c0 being toward the end c2. Forming a part of the bottom of the stem c5 is the oblong portion c7, which corresponds in size with the rectangular opening ct in the top ofthe tie.

In the drawings, Fig. 9,adouble guide-plate B is shown, and this guide-plate is secured to the body of the tie by a rivet.

To secure the rail to the tie in the construction shown in Figs. l to 9, inclusive, the rail is first laid upon the tie with one iange close under the guide-plate B. Thelocking device C is then putin position to secure the rail, and lthis is accomplished by introducing the foot c7 of the locking device through the opening a in the body of the tie and then IOO turning the locking device, whereby the part c2 overrides the top of the flange?? of the rail and the part o6 bears against the outer edge of the flange, and as the shoulder c6 is semicircular or approximately so it serves to crowd the flange of the rail under the guide-plate B. When the locking device C has` been moved around so that the rail is firmly held between it and the guide-plate, the key D is introduced under the tapering groove c4 and driven home. The ends cl of the key are then spread. In order to make the lock still more secure, we may form in the top ofV the tie a groove E, which when the locking device is in position immediately underlies the circular opening c4 in the top of the fastening device. This groove we deem important, because it prevents all possibility of moving the locking device when the end of the Wedge has been opened, as shown in Fig. 8, without the use of tools, whereas if there were no groove in the tie the locking device might be turned partly around, so as to release the rail by hammering on the same with stone or other hard heavy object.

In the construction shown in Figs. 10, 11, and 12 provision is made for lateral adjustment, and this is accomplished by so constructing the locking device that the apex of the curve c6 shall be of varying distance in separate fastening devices from the point T, which is' the vertical axis of the stem of the fastening device.

In drawing Fig. l2 the apex of the circle on the right-hand side of the figure is shown as drawn one-half inch from the axis, and on the left-hand side of the figure one-fourth of an inch from the axis.

With the locking devices having the parts made as Figs. 10, 11, and 12 the rail is shown as secured one-fourth inch within the true gage. Supposing now that it be required to bring the rail to gage, this can be accomplished by reversing the parts of the two locking devices on the right and left of the figure, and the rail would be moved thereby to gage by such change.

It is obvious that the distance of the apex of the curve c from the axis T may be varied, and thus by using locking devices having a varying distance from axis to apex of curve the rail may be adjusted to suit all the requirements of practice. I/Vhere a single locking device is used in combination with the gage-plate, as shown in Fig. l, an adjustment laterally inward may be accomplished by introducing a liner between the flange of the rail b and the gage-plate B and employing a locking device having the apex at its curve at a shorter distance from the axis than is usually employed where the rail is held to gage between the gage-plate and the fastening device as commonly made.

Having thus described our invention, we.

claim- The combination of a rail and a metallic tie having an aperture hin its top, arranged with its longest diameter subtantially parallel with the rail, and a groove E, also parallel with the rail, and means for holding one side of said rail with a locking device having a head C, provided with a tapering groove c4 on its under side, a curved shoulder c, a stem c5, and an oblong head, and a wedge driven into said grooves E and c4 between said head and tie, as set forth.

In testimoay whereof we: have affixed our signatures in the presence of ltwo witnesses.

BENJAMIN F. SPARR. MILLARD F. SPARR. 

